The state’s Labor Department regulates the MP Shop Establishment Act. All stores and business establishments in the state are governed by the Act and have to take Gumasta License. When a business starts employing people as full-time employees, casual workers, contract workers, etc., the Shop Establishment Certificate is required to monitor and regulate the working conditions as well as to ensure that their rights are protected.

Under the Act, shops are defined as places where items are sold to customers, either retail or wholesale, or where services are provided to them. It encompasses offices, godowns, storerooms, and warehouses that are used in the course of a trade or business.